1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of containers used to retain hot liquid and which enables the liquid to be consumed while a person holds the container in the person's hand with the lid of the container being in either the open or closed condition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, containers used to retain a liquid, whether hot or cold, are known in the prior art. The following list of patents are patents known to the present inventor which are containers of various designs used to retain liquids for consumption by person holding the container and consuming the liquid contents retained within the container:
The following 21 patents and published patent applications are relevant to the field of the present invention:    1. U.S. Pat. No. 2,690,861 issued to Earl S. Tupper on Oct. 5, 1954 for “Dispensing Closure”.    2. U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 189,586 issued to George S. Nalle, Jr. on Jan. 10, 1961 for “Tumbler”.    3. U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 192,296 issued to Walfred M. Nyman on Feb. 27, 1962 for “Cup or Similar Article”.    4. U.S. Pat. No. 3,194,468 issued to Ronald Baron on Jul. 13, 1965 for “Plastic Drinking Cups”.    5. U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 204,783 issued to Ronald E. Johnson and assigned to Columbus Plastics Products, Inc. on May 17, 1966 for “Drinking Cup”.    6. U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 212,352 issued to Paul Davis on Oct. 8, 1968 for “Cup”.    7. U.S. Pat. No. 3,437,253 issued to Paul Davis et al. on Apr. 8, 1969 for “Disposable Plastic Cup With Stiff Gripping Section”.    8. U.S. Pat. No. 3,443,715 issued to Bryant Edwards on May 13, 1969 for “Double Wall Container”.    9. U.S. Pat. No. 3,606,262 issued to Teunis Van't Hoff on Sep. 20, 1971 for “Cup, Mug or Other Drinking Vessel, More Especially Made of Plastic”.    10. U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,135 issued to Michael A. Yung et al. on Jan. 14, 1975 for “Container And Container-Cap Combination”.    11. U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 248,358 issued to Tommy Thomas on Jul. 4, 1978 for “Cup”.    12. U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,081 issued to Brad M. McCabe on May 10, 1994 for “Integral Beverage Container”.    13. U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,011 issued to Dan E. Fischer on May 17, 1994 for “Stackable Container System”.    14. U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,094 issued to Thomas P. Rapchak et al. on Sep. 16, 1997 for “Container and Closure Assembly”.    15. U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,716 issued to Liming Cai et al. on Jun. 16, 1998 for “Cup Protector”.    16. U.S. Design Pat. No. D437,733 issued to Sascha Kaposi on Feb. 20, 2001 for “Ribbed Side Drinking Vessel”.    17. U.S. Pat. No. 6,571,981 issued to Joey L. Rohlfs on Jun. 3, 2003 for “Disposable Sipper Cups”.    18. U.S. Pat. No. 6,601,728 issued to Raymond Newkirk et al. on Aug. 5, 2003 for “Thermal Cup Holder”.    19. U.S. Pat. No. 6,955,289 B2 issued to John Green on Oct. 18, 2005 for “Container Having an Integral Lid”.    20. United States Published Patent Application No. 2006/0043100 to Joseph E. Johnson et al. for “Vial With Hinged Cap And Method of Making Same”.    21. United States Published Patent Application No. 2009/0223969 to Tony V. Bouie on Sep. 10, 2009 for “Lid Assembly and Method For Use Thereof”.
There is a significant need for an improved container which provides advantages which are lacking in the prior art containers.